First Oil Change Interval vs. first service interval

[mr.nik]

my MY2018 Superb came up to 1yr old and 15k miles last month (Jan 2018)..  

some distance before that (I can't remember exactly how much)  it was flashing up an "Oil Service" interval warning - basically this seemed to be timed to 1 year  (or maybe 15k?).  Anyway, it's not flashing up the service interval, because when I check for that it's saying it'll be in 4.something K miles, meaning at 20k or 2yrs..    It now flashes "oil service" every time i get in and out. 

 

So, i rang the dealer to book in this "oil service" and they sounded all confused.  They said the two should be the same thing and the car must have been set up wrong. Since I am on variable servicing interval (based on the 2yr/20k indication) they reckoned this "oil service" is mistakenly set for 1 yr..      They simply said to me it's not due until your service, and you'll waste 4000 miles (so to speak) if you service it now. So they said just ignore it until I hit 20k. 

That makes me nervous. 

 

I've looked at the manual, and poked around on this forum, but I can't make sense of this. Namely, there clearly is an "oil service" warning which is different to the Service indicator, but I can't find whether they should be set the same or differently (like my car), and whether the dealer is right and I should ignore, or whether i could be doing unnecessary harm to the vehicle.  

 

Clearly the safest thing would be to insist on an oil change now, then a full service in 4.5k miles, but obviously i would want to avoid that expense if sensible. 

Any advice appreciated. 

[Ootohere]

Just get the Major Service carried out, but not a £279 Major Service since nothing much gets done at 18,000-20,000 miles / 24 months.

2nd Major Service should have the Spark Plugs, Air Filter & Fuel filter changed.

So the Oil & Filter, pollen filter and other inspection things.  Health Check & Including Body Report!

Just not at Parks or Arnold Clark's and you should be fine.

Edited 25 February, 2019 by Skoffski

[BriskodaJeff]

It's all a bit complicated when really it shouldn't be. The cars come from the factory on variable service programmes, meaning the car monitors the oil quality and determines when the oil service is due (after a service it will typically say that the next oil service is due in 18k miles or 2 years). Dealers often change this to fixed, meaning one year / 10k miles. So at 15k miles I would be getting an oil service done. The inspection service is just a general check over and they will do it at the same time and reset both oil and inspection service notifications as long as you ask them. 

 

Some of the confusion comes because Skoda used to do major and minor services (they don't any more). Make sure when you take it in that you get them to set the oil service interval to what you want it to be. 

 

The mileage for the inspection service will diverge from the oil service mileage almost from day 1. It isn't an issue as both get done at the same time, but the date of the oil service is the one you need to pay heed to.

[mr.nik]

Right - that makes sense...    probably i've done enough short trips and overtakes for the car to decide it would be better off having its oil changed now...   so that's what I'll plan to do.. 

[ChrisJ944]

Welcome to the world of dealers who don't understand the service regime of the cars they are selling!  It sounds like your car is set up for the flexible service regime.  There is a lot of disinformation out there about how this works - often coming from dealers.  The information below is from the Skoda Superb III tech manual, and the manual supplied with the car.

 

The facts

There are two service events to consider under the flexible service regime:

 

Oil Change Service - engine oil change on demand by the car, it will tell you when it is required.  This is the flexible bit.

Inspection - first after 2yrs/30000km, then 1yr/30000km.  Again, the car will tell you when it needs this, although this element is forecast on a fixed basis.

 

Under the flexible service regime, the car monitors the engine oil health and your driving style.  The car decides when the oil needs to be changed within a min/max bracket.  From memory, having looked at the min/max values in VCDS the min is 1 yr/15000 km and the max is 2 yr/30000 km.

 

There are two flavours of inspection due at fixed intervals following the pattern above.  The first is called inspection.  The second is called inspection plus extended scope of inspection.  The basic inspection is due at every inspection event.  The extended scope of inspection is first due at 3yrs/60000km, then every 2yrs/60000km.  Additionally, depending upon your vehicle, there is out of phase maintenance which may become due at these points.  For example, brake fluid change is due at 3 years, then every 2 years.  Other items include spark plugs(4 years/60000km for 2.0 litre), Haldex clutch oil (every 3 years), DSG oil (every 60000km), to name a few.  Notably, neither inspection includes an engine oil change.

 

The discussion

 

The oil change service and the inspection are two distinct and separate service events.  They can become due at the same time, but it is likely that they will not.  You must have your vehicle serviced as demanded by the car in order to comply with the conditions of Skoda's warranty.  If it is asking for an oil change, you need to change the oil.

 

It is totally OK to bring maintenance forward, but you cannot defer it.  (That said, most manufacturers seem happy with maintenance being done up to one month after the due date when considering eligibility for warranty).

 

So, you can choose to have the inspection done when you take the car in for an oil change service (and vice versa), but they almost certainly won't be due at the same time.  If the two service events are close together i.e. one or two months apart, I would have them done together to save being in and out of the garage too often.  Any more than that and I would have them done as they are due.

 

If this is all a bit too much, and you would like a simpler life, your dealer can switch your car to the fixed regime, so it all just gets done at annual intervals.  This is totally acceptable as far as warranty is concerned as it is a Skoda approved option.  Also, you can switch back if you choose.

 

The problem I have found is that dealers don't understand the flexible service regime.  I dropped my car off for an oil change and picked it up to find they had done an inspection too, reset both service indicators, and switched the car to the fixed regime.  It did not end well for them.

 

In order to get my car serviced properly, I had to download the service regime from erWin, print it out, and take it to the dealer to show them.  It was only at this point that they agreed that they had screwed it up and that they would fix it.  They admitted that this was the first time they had seen the service regime, and claimed that it was not what they had been taught.

 

You can tell what service regime your is set up for by checking the vehicle data sticker.  Mine had a QI6 code which meant flexible service regime for MY17 cars.  I imagine it is still the same code for later cars, but you should refer to your manual.

 

Hopefully this will help in your engagements with the dealer, and you can avoid having the same experience as I have had.

 

 

[Ootohere]

Re Manufacturers Warranty.

 

'Service to manufacturers guidelines'. 

Something many many Dealers do not do, and Demonstrators, Fleet cars etc do not get and VW Group Service plans do not even follow.

Approved Used Cars with a 12 Month Warranty with FMDSH's might not even be Serviced to the Manufacturers Guidelines. 

EG VW's with no Brake Fluid or Haldex change at 3 years or 30,000 miles.

[mr.nik]

4 minutes ago, ChrisJ944 said:

Welcome to the world of dealers who don't understand the service regime of the cars they are selling!  It sounds like your car is set up for the flexible service regime.  There is a lot of disinformation out there about how this works - often coming from dealers.  The information below is from the Skoda Superb III tech manual, and the manual supplied with the car.

 

The discussion

 

The oil change service and the inspection are two distinct and separate service events.  They can become due at the same time, but it is likely that they will not.  You must have your vehicle serviced as demanded by the car in order to comply with the conditions of Skoda's warranty.  If it is asking for an oil change, you need to change the oil.

 

 

That's brilliant Chris, thanks.. I did look in the manual, although admittedly on the phone app, and none of these detailed info was apparent to me. I hope now I have not go too far over the requirement by following their advice to ignore, otherwise I then also face a potential battle with them for supplying me duff info. It seemed obvious to me that "inspection" meant "looking" and "oil service" meant "change the oil" and thus the latter was actually the more important. 
 

It does seem like a complicated scheme - meaning that there is a perfect way for all these events to synchronise (which must be great) and a terrible way for these events to (not) synchronise, depending on how you drive.  I certainly like predictability

 

[Ootohere]

Not to worry,

It is all lost in translation from German, to Czech, to Spanish, to English, US English and Chinese and back.

 

VW can not even agree on km's to miles, or 40,000 miles for VW, Skoda, SEAT and 38,000 for Audi with DSG servicing etc.

http://volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/regimes

 

Dealerships / Employees at PDI's should have asked via Sales People what the Customer wants the Service Regime as.